Never Say Die
by OdysseyThree
Summary: The year is 2120. Bella and Edward have volunteered themselves to be test subjects for a procedure that will make them live for 500 more years. As they discover that their guinea pig status entailed much more than what was originally thought, they and the rest of the test subjects will have to band together to survive from everyone who is out to get them. Edw./B, with A/J, Em/R


**Summary: **The year is 2120. Bella and Edward have volunteered themselves to be test subjects for a procedure that will make them live for 500 more years. As they discover that their guinea pig status entailed much more than what was originally thought, they and the rest of the test subjects will have to band together to survive from everyone who is out to get them.

**Disclaimer: This is the only one I'll be posting, because we all know I don't own Twilight. Otherwise I would've written many more sequels instead of FF.**

**A/N: So, first story, woot woot! I'm really excited and I hope you guys enjoy. :D**

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The streamline model hospital hoverbed in front of me hummed with the power from its internal electrical generators, covered in crisp, standard-issue silver padding. I reached out to touch it, and tried not to notice as my hand shook nervously in front of me. My breath was let out in one great whoosh as my finger stuck into the soft material. It was much softer than the old raggedy things that I had been asleep on a mere four hours ago. Honestly, it seemed like so much longer. But I would never have to sleep with raggedy sheets again. Not after the Procedure. I'd be getting at least the three star treatment, what with being one of Dynafrontier's shiny new guinea pigs.

Jessica and Mike had both agreed that I was crazy to even be trying this. To have a-_supposedly_-life extending material injected into my brain that could actually kill me before I could live out a day of my new life. Not to mention it had only been tested on mice… because we were the first human testers. And I knew the first twenty of us that would receive it were utterly disposable lives, young people with little to no connections with people that would fight for our rights, fight for _us_ if we lost our lives or our minds to this new and experimental drug. Not to mention the few remaining religious figures/organizations and large groups of political anarchists that would be thirsting for our blood once this was done and over with. Dynafrontier's screwing around with divine rights and their power plays did not sit well with the masses.

Crap, I really should've thought this through.

Being 18 and practically homeless didn't leave you with a lot of options if you wanted a better life, to say the least.

Mike had insisted that he could make a better life for me, make a better life for the both of us, if I stayed with him. But we both knew that you couldn't suddenly procure even the basic necessities that we had both so badly needed. Love had turned out to not be enough, and I knew that we probably wouldn't ever see each other again. Even if we did, I would never be able to love him fully. I would stay young while he would grow wrinkled and weary, and loving him would hurt me. It would be the same with all of my friends from my life. My old life.

The only people I would ever relate to again were the other test subjects; and, if the Procedure was successful, the other citizens that would have it done, if there were any.

I jumped at the sound of a generic, monotone voice crackling through from the ceiling. "Ms. Swan, we would like you to wear the medical gown located within the clothing generator and lie down now. A nurse will be in to insert your myoscope and collect your vitals in a few moments." The voice's absence was signaled with a soft beep.

The bed dipped slightly and my new clothes crinkled softly beneath me as I hesitantly sat on the bed. Even though I had already signed countless contracts, it felt as if I was finally sealing my fate as I laid back. Walls of light snapped up around me with an audible click and glowing lines and numbers appeared above my head, beeping noises being produced from thin air. The walls felt stomach-lurchingly solid and warm beneath my hand. I kicked one of the walls of blue light with my foot, a sharp pain radiating up it from the impact as the hoverbed shrieked in protest. I really shouldn't have expected my foot to go through, but a girl could dream, right?

I heard the beeping grow faster and louder as I realized I was trapped. I mean, I was already trapped by a company with an endless supply of resources and an army of lawyer's larger than Exoplanet L23's population, but the blue cage had quickly become an ironic metaphor for my life. I had signed away my life to a company that could probably kill me with no ramifications whatsoever.

"Ms. Swan, if you could please attempt to calm yourself. We will be forced to give you a sedative if you cannot." The emotionless, uncaring voice of a robot did nothing but agitate me further. Apparently, a girl wasn't allowed to have a small freakout session before possibly dying. Or possibly living 500 years into the future. That was scary too.

Where would I live? Where would I get food from? Where would I work? Dynafrontier had made promises to provide for me and protect me from the threats of "malicious, progress hating people" but I had learned that promises were more easily broken than they were kept. Being shuffled through the houses of humans and alien immigrants alike had proven that.

And was this even the right thing to do in the first place? I would eventually die, hopefully not within the coming hours, but I would be cheating death, cheating life too, if you thought about it, for a longer time than was natural. I buried my face into my pillow as I silently contemplated my morality. And my mortality. The two seemed to be inexplicably entwined at the moment…

I'd always loved learning. It was the only constant thing after the faces that were supposed to control your life were constantly changing and spinning in and out of focus. And I would be able to learn so much, discover so much through this. And even though I would receive so much hate, I liked to think that I would become admired over time for my sacrifice. Right?

A nurse with a round, kind face shuffled in, interrupting my train of thought, her medical materials hovering closely behind her. She did nothing but ask if I was comfortable before removing a section of my prison walls and stepping up to the side of my hoverbed. Taking my arm gently in her hands and giving me a soft smile, she quickly injected a cloudy fluid into the blue vein in the crease of my elbow. I wanted to cry out at the sharp, unexpected sting of pain, but I was gone to the world before a protest could sound from my lips.

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**A/N: If you feel so inclined, please leave me a review. Con crit welcome. Next chapter should be up in a week or so, probably a bit longer since this was sort of prologue-ish. You might have to wait to meet Edward and the rest of the gang though, lol, sorry not sorry.**

**~OdysseyThree**


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